Here is our weekly summary of key legal and regulatory developments relevant to occupational pension schemes that you might have missed, with links for further information.
We noted in last week’s update that the Pension Schemes Bill had been agreed by the House of Commons and House of Lords. The bill received royal assent on 29 April 2026, and is now an act of Parliament. Our short form publication summarises the key measures in the Pension Schemes Act 2026. Watch out for a more detailed publication, once the text of the act has been published.
The National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill also received royal assent on 29 April 2026, and is now an act of Parliament. This imposes a cap of £2,000 on the amount of pension contributions that can be made (without being subject to national insurance contributions) as part of a salary sacrifice arrangement. This measure was first announced at Budget 2025, and will come into force on 6 April 2029.
The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) updated code of practice for collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes was laid before Parliament on 29 April 2026. TPR has also issued its response to consultation. The code has been expanded to cover multi-employer CDC schemes and is expected to come into force mid-October 2026. According to TPR’s press release, multi-employer schemes could be operating early in 2027, and TPR is in discussion with “several potential entrants to this market”. More details can be found in the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) explanatory memorandum.
The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has issued a blog post, Pensions dashboards connection deadline: your questions answered. With less than six months to the connection deadline, the blog reminds stakeholders of some key duties and contains links to useful resources.
Our Labour & Employment team has published a helpful checklist setting out key measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025 that are expected to come into force in October 2026.
If you would like specific advice on any of these issues or anything else, please contact a member of our Pensions team.
